Unthinkable: Crabbers' Drive For Five In A Row Comes To Abrupt End

November 28, 1999|By NORM WOOD Daily Press

HAMPTON — All week long, Culpeper coach Lou Sorrentino talked about just wanting to stay close to Hampton and having a chance to win at the end. His wish came true Saturday when Culpeper completed a 20-17 upset victory over Hampton in overtime in the Group AAA Division 5 football semifinals.

Senior place-kicker Bryan Smith had an opportunity to tie the game in overtime, but his effort from 37 yards away was wide left of the goalpost. The Hampton head coach's son could only shrug his shoulders and raise his hands in disbelief through tears when asked if he thought the kick had a chance.

"He kicked it from the hash mark that we wanted," Hampton coach Mike Smith said. "I felt like it was going to be good. But we shouldn't have been kicking it there in the first place."

Smith was right about that fact. Two plays prior to his son's attempt, Hampton senior quarterback Marques Hagans committed one of the biggest blunders of his career by getting whistled for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

On second-and-goal from the Blue Devils' 3-yard line, Hagans was sacked for a two-yard loss. He responded by getting up and firing the ball at a Culpeper player, pushing the Crabbers back from the Culpeper 5-yard line to the 20. After an incomplete pass by Hagans, Hampton (12-1 overall) was forced to set up for Smith's field goal.

The hush blanketing the Crabbers' side of Darling Stadium following the game was indicative of an event that hadn't happened since 1995; a home loss for Hampton, the first in 37 games. It also marked the conclusion of Hampton's 25-game overall winning streak.

"I think they did underestimate us in a way because they're fifth in the country or whatever," Culpeper sophomore linebacker Jeremy Bailey said. "We're from little Culpeper, Virginia. Their whole school is probably bigger than our whole county."

Hampton, the four-time defending Group AAA Division 5 state champions and No. 1-ranked team in the state, will not have the chance to defend its title. Culpeper, which finished the regular season with its highest state ranking in school history at No. 4, now moves on to the Division 5 state title game at 1 p.m. next Saturday at the University of Richmond. The Blue Devils will face Henrico (12-1), which cruised past Yorktown 42-0 on Saturday.

"I could tell from the first snap of the game that we underrated this team," Hampton senior linebacker Alfonza Gunter said. "(This is) a big dream. I'm just waiting to wake up right now."

Blue Devils quarterback Mike Jenkins (11-of-22 for 175 yards, two touchdowns and an interception) and senior wide receiver Terence Dinkins were best buddies Saturday. Jenkins hooked up with Dinkins eight times for 153 yards and a touchdown to keep the Crabbers' secondary guessing for the most of the afternoon.

Their biggest play came with less than five minutes to play in regulation. Culpeper was sitting at Hampton's 44-yard line with fourth-and-six on tap. Jenkins responded by unloading a bullet across the middle that Dinkins snagged for a 20-yard gain down to the Crabbers' 24. The drive ended in a 32- yard field goal by junior place-kicker Mike Greenaway to tie the game at 17 with 2:13 left.

"We were a little more conservative than we had been," Sorrentino said. "If you try to go down the field too much on Hampton, they'll hurt you. We wanted to throw short ones to Dinkins, stuff like that, and he just had a great game. He was catching everything.

"The one (20-yard gain on fourth down) late in the game - when he caught the ball between two defenders - that was huge."

In the third quarter, Dinkins got behind Hagans and junior cornerback Derrick Fenner and caught a pass that deflected off Hagans' fingertips. The play resulted in a 59-yard touchdown to put the Blue Devils ahead 14-10 with 7:24 remaining in the quarter.

The Crabbers responded with a nine-play, 72-yard drive, capped off by an 11-yard touchdown run by Hagans to put Hampton ahead 17-14 with 2:25 left in the third. On the drive, Hagans kept the Crabbers rolling by hitting junior receiver Carlos Campbell for a 22-yard gain on third-and-17 from their own 35.

Culpeper (13-0) took advantage of several Hampton miscues to keep itself in the game. The Crabbers were whistled for 10 penalties amounting to 91 yards.

One of the transgressions came at a moment when Hampton had a chance to take a 10-point lead. With 1:18 left in the third quarter, Hagans sprinted to the end zone for an apparent 41-yard touchdown. However, the run was negated when the Crabbers were flagged for a 10-yard holding penalty.

Hampton only worsened its situation by getting penalized for another 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct infraction on the same play. Instead of jumping ahead 24-14, Hampton was staring at first- and-35 from its own 37-yard line.

"You can't get touchdowns called back like that," Coach Smith said. "I don't feel like we played as well as we're capable of playing."